Topic
(Sticky)
[PvE] Demonology in 4.3: A guide.
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Edited by Jessicka on 22/01/12 11:31 (UTC)
Introduction:
Currently our highest simming spec on Patchwerk, it is susceptable to losses due to movement and relatively weak against multiple targets compared to the other two trees. It has very strong burst, on demand damage, and AoE which make it quite a niche spec, excelling on some encounters but proving relatively weak on others. There are two commonly used specs I'll discuss here, one uses Incinerate as a filler, the other Shadow Bolt. Spec: 3/31/7: http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/tool/talent-calculator#Vc01!aj!ShhSaQbeTd!Ygg!aUMK A popular spec, performs a shade ahead of the traditional spec on single target encounters where Immolate is not likely to fall off. The moment you need to recast Immolate however, this spec does fall behind, especially against multiple targets but even if you're simply not hit capped (being so may not be optimal for your gear), you can loose out simply if HoG misses. 0/31/10: http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/tool/talent-calculator#Vc01!!ShhSaQbeTd!Pgg!bUhkPNMLq This is my prefered setup because most encounters aren't Patchwerk. Most of my discussion will revolve therefore around this spec; I barely consider the former viable. Glyphs 3/31/7 uses Incinerate, Metamorphosis, Immolate and Life Tap. Other Glyphs are utility as prefered. 0/31/10 uses Corruption, Metamorphosis, Immolate, Life Tap and Shadow Bolt. If a fight has an air phase, such as Warmaster Blackhorn, you may prefer to use Lash of Pain over Corruption and use the Succubus pet rather than the Felhunter, depending on your assigned priority targets. Pets Felhunter should be pretty much default for most encounters. In 4.3 there's no real encounters where AoE is extensive enough that the Felguard is particularly desirable, and as above air phases are also a rarity but if you're having difficulty with Assault Drakes or Gariona then you may wish to use the Succubus. Pet Twisting. Much has been said about this, it's something you should only be doing during an encounter when using the Moonwell Chalice, although it should always be done at the start regardless. Starting with the Felguard and Soulburn switching to the Felhunter after Felstorm has faded is always a DPS increase. If you have the MWC, it will be an increase to hard summon a Felguard prior to the Trinket and Meta cooldowns both become available, if you will be able to make that summon uninterupted, and then stack the cooldowns. Once you have the 4pc T13 bonus, you no longer pet twist, except for at the beggining of the fight. Similarly, if you don't have the MWC, it is only beneficial to pet twist at the start of the encounter. Doomguard single target. Infernal AoE. These are best used at the opening of a fight when you can stack multiple buffs such as potions, trinkets and Power Torrent buffs. They do not benefit from heroism (or other percentile based buffs such as Wrath of Air or Demon Soul), although they are worth saving when that's to be used for specific burn phases such as on Spine or Madness. Rotation: It's more of a priority queue, and it goes something like this: •Metamorphosis •Immolation Aura •Demon Soul •Doomguard/Infernal •Immolate •Hand of Gul'dan •Bane of Doom •Corruption •Shadowflame •Soul Burn -> Soul Fire •Shadow Bolt (on Shadow Trance procs) •Incinerate (If molten core is up) •Soul Fire (If Decimation is up) •Shadow Bolt •Life Tap Obviously with the Incinerate build, Incinerate replaces Shadow Bolt, and there will be no Shadow Trance procs as the Corruption glyph is replaced by Incinerate. Other, situational •Curse of Elements where the raid composition requires it. •Fel Flame on movement. •AoE: Immolation Aura, Shadowflame, Hellfire, Felstorm. •Soulshatter, Shadow Ward. |
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Edited by Jessicka on 16/01/12 14:30 (UTC)
Tips:
Using the Moonwell Chalice, it is important to activate it and ensure the buff it active before using Metamorphosis. The trinket is so strong for the spec because the damage increase from Meta is calculated based on Mastery at the point of activation; this increase is snapshotted and maintained for the full duration of Meta. If you do not have the MWC, Metamorphosis, Demon Soul should be used as close to cooldown as possible, or saved for specific phases of an encounter, such as Tendons on Spine. Dark Intent. The best recipients for this are Shadow Priests, Boomkin, Resto Druids and Fire Mages. Decimation, in spite of the recent buffs to Soul Fire, you must still maintain DoTs and use Molten Core procs to switch to Incinerate while this buff is active. DoTs. Keep Immolate, Corruption and Bane of Doom on your target all the time, don't let them drop. Put Bane of Agony in place of Doom on adds with Corruption and Immolate if they're going to last, if not, just spam Shadow Bolts. While Corruption should be clipped within the last 2 seconds of it's duration, BoD should not be clipped unless you have more buffs present than at the original point of cast. Use Bane of Agony on secondary targets that will live long enough while multidotting, this should never be clipped. Melee Caster; Where fight mechanics will allow, get in close so you can use Shadowflame and Immolation Aura as these are a notable DPS increase. Stat Priority Intellect > Hit (to 17%) > Mastery > Haste > Crit. There has been a lot of discussion about Haste plataeus with both versions of this spec, but they were recently debunked here: http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/1060618-Understanding-the-Haste-Plateaus Haste and Mastery are however very close and very gear dependant. Hit is actually so expensive now, and Intellect covers everything from increasing your mana pool (fewer Life Taps), increasing your crit chance, and of course increasing your spellpower that it's better to stack it than Hit. Trinkets (Curtesy of neubs986: http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/1033285-BiS-Trinket-lists.) Demonology HCoC- 4021 HICM- 3407 CoC- 3551 HWoU- 3403 MWC- 3278 CoC(LFR)- 3153 HVPL- 3073 ICM- 3040 WoU- 3036 DMC:V- 2806 VPL- 2722 ICM(LFR)- 2696 WoU(LFR)- 2682 BW- 2635 FGDL- 2476 RoZ- 2248 The MWC ranks very highly still, however it's value is dependant on whether you have the T13 4-set bonus and other gear, so it's worth simming and testing yourself whether it should be replaced, certainly at normal mode level gear. Other resources: http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/1058434-Demonology-The-Demon-Within-%284.3-%29-Guide http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/860217-Demonology-A-Guide-%284.2%29 http://elitistjerks.com/f80/t110366-demonology_cataclysm_4_3_release/ |
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Edited by Jessicka on 16/01/12 14:27 (UTC)
Note this is an updated guide from one I wrote during 4.0.3, although I've checked through and amended whole swaiths of it, there might be some things I missed.
I also have guides to Aff and Destro I'll get round to sorting out in the next few days. |
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Thanks for an updated guide of yours, Jessicka! Glad to see you haven't given up on your warlock!
Looking forward to the Aff and especially Destro guide :-) |
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Good read, reported for sticky. :-)
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Sticky requested. As a small aside, you may want to mention a bit more on the haste/mastery argument. It's not as big a dps difference as people assume so stacking haste, while technically inferior, might give both greater overall adaption via talent swaps and also evens out the dps in non meta phases, which is good if you happen to lose some meta because of an unfortunate boss mechanic (we've all heard the ultraxion stories)
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Voted for sticky
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Edited by Jessicka on 16/01/12 15:40 (UTC)
As I say, Haste is very gear dependent, generally it is inferior, but it does heavily depend on your gear; for example simply swapping out my ICM with WoU put Haste way ahead of Mastery for me. A lot of the argument is centered around whether you're using MWC and it's impact on Impending Doom procs, or whether you're using Incin rather than Shadow Bolt; I honestly can't say I'm convinced of either since MWC and Meta line up pretty well anyway, and Incin will generally only offer a couple more ID procs at best over the course of a fight. The thread I linked goes into far more detail than I care to think about; what matters for me is it's conclusion. I'll go into more detail with Haste plateaus in the Destro guide where they actually matter. |
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After a bloodlust thrown when the mage wants, it seems my meta goes like 1 min off cooldown than MWC. So what can I do? I wait 1 minute. Still.. one question for all the demos out here : did your dps increase with better gear comparing to firelands?
I respecced to Destro.. ten times easier and better dps! |
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Sticky requested.
Also, Destro guide (Thanks to Jessicka) is out too. |
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This only ever seems to happen for me on Majordomo, but yeah if you have over 1 minute to wait for MWC it is generally worth using Meta early. Anything less than a minute and you should hang on. |
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""Also, Destro guide (Thanks to Jessicka)""
Hi can anyone please link me the forum who Jessicka created on the destruction guide?? Thanks |
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ilvel 397-390 haste 1993 for extratick corruption.. is necessary?
Morchok HM, top spec i destro with Bane of Hevoc? |
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As I noted already, Haste plateaus have been shown to be unnecessary to reach for as Demonology regardless of build.
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Thanks for guide ! it is really helpful
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Updated the part about pet twisting in regards to T13 4pc bonus.
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